Chelsea were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at West Ham United on Saturday afternoon, no thanks to a series of scandalous VAR decisions that tamed the visitors to share the spoils at the London Stadium.

It was a busy afternoon for the VAR who were involved in a total of four-potential goals throughout the game denying the visitors the majority (3) with the most recent been the rejection of a penalty appeal after Thomas Soucek have handed the ball in his own half late in the game.

Thomas Soucek had earlier seen his match winner revoked for an offside call against Declan Rice in the 83rd minute before committing an obvious foul at the other end of the pitch five minutes later.

The Blues took an early lead in the game courtesy of a sublime in-swinging pass from Enzo Fernandez leaving Joao Felix only to place in a curly finish beyond Lukas Fabianski 15 minutes into the game.

This came after the eventual scorer, Felix, saw his effort ruled out for offside by the VAR. They further grew in confidence and dictated proceedings throughout the first stanza of the game, creating a couple of gilt-edge chances in the process including a Havertz goal that was chopped off for offside.

On the half-hour mark, an old friend Emerson Palmieri turned into a foe as he slotted home an equaliser for the Hammers having picked up a beautiful flick for Jarrod Bowen from close range. In doing so, the erstwhile Chelsea defender scored his second goal for the club in 57 fewer matches than he did for his former club.

A wonderfully struck partnership ensured between new signings Enzo Fernandez and Joao Felix as the duo continually posed a threat to the defensive unit of the opposition.

But that would not really matter as the game ended in a frustrating 1-1 draw that compounds Chelsea’s mishap further. They will now turn their focus to the midweek round of 16 champions league encounter away at Borussia Dortmund.